BCNE annual meeting
New England Baptists pray, plan for revitalization
In the opening remarks of the Baptist Convention of New England’s 38th annual meeting, executive director Dr. Terry Dorsett shared the story of a church that has affiliated with the BCNE from another denomination this year and is experiencing a time of revitalization.
“The pastor told me recently that they have felt so encouraged in the last six months – in the middle of a pandemic, they have felt encouraged! – because of the help they have received from the Baptist Convention of New England,” Dorsett said.
The Nov. 5 online meeting, which was live-streamed on YouTube, included worship, testimonies and reports, as New England Baptists celebrated what God is doing in the region and focused on the theme of Church Revitalization: Helping Churches Thrive.
Praying for a movement of God
Dr. Gary Moritz, BCNE Director of Revitalization and lead pastor of City United Church in Lunenburg, Mass., preached the annual sermon, “Trading the Moments to Embrace the Mission.” Using the text of Acts 4, Moritz shared seven traits of a revitalized church and called on New England Baptists to demonstrate revitalized prayer.
“If we’re going to see churches revitalized in New England, we need to have powerful prayer meetings,” Moritz said. “We need to stand together and raise our voices to the Almighty Living God and ask Him to move in our churches and in our lives.”
Staff members shared digital messages reporting baptisms, exciting ministry opportunities during the pandemic and new plans for church planting and revitalization.
Pastor Chris Goeppner accepted the Raymond C. Allen Award for Excellence in Evangelism and Missions on behalf of Riverbank Church in White River Junction, Vt., and Claremont, N.H. The church’s two campuses reported 341 salvations and 121 baptisms in 2019.
Budget and other business
After the celebratory reports concluded, church representatives were invited to join a business meeting via Zoom.
Representatives approved a 2021 budget of just under $2.5 million, as well as the recommendation that Cooperative Program giving be frozen at the 2015 levels until the negative financial effects of the pandemic have passed.
The following officers were elected for the coming year: president, Dong Rondina, pastor of Word of God Christian Fellowship, a Filipino-American congregation in Framingham, Mass., and vice-president, Stephen Woodard, pastor of Nashua Baptist Church in Nashua, N.H.
A Resolution on the Importance of Cooperative Missions was passed. Citing the denomination’s history of joint efforts to fulfill the Great Commission, the resolution states that this mission “is best accomplished when national SBC entities, churches, associations and state/regional conventions work cooperatively.” The resolution urges SBC entities working in New England to demonstrate a cooperative spirit.
Next year’s annual meeting will be Nov. 5-6, 2021, at South Shore Baptist Church in Hingham, Mass. Dr. Adam Greenway, president of Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in Fort Worth, Tex., will deliver the annual sermon, and South Shore Baptist’s worship team will lead worship.
Kimber Huff is the communications coordinator at the Baptist Convention of New England.